Cory Stillman
When Reservation Dogs first premiered in 2021, it immediately stood out as a vital (and hilarious) step forward for Indigenous representation in TV and film. Editors Patrick Tuck and Varun Viswanath, ACE have edited several episodes across the show’s three seasons, effortlessly maneuvering between its careful blend of comedy and sincerity. Reservation Dogs consistently reached new comedic heights, but it never abandoned its core mission of shedding light on the Native American experience in the United States.
“The show’s foremost goal is to be a real and joyful mirror to the Native American audience,” the duo explains. “We hope they will see themselves in it, embrace it, celebrate it, and be proud of it. It’s been very heartwarming to be accepted by them, and then to see the wider audience gravitate to the show is a huge bonus and validation to the Native American storytelling traditions that Reservation Dogs embodies.”
Tuck and Viswanath were entrusted with editing the series’ final episode “Dig” and were soon recognized with an Emmy nomination for their efforts. “Dig” serves as a culmination of not only the show’s narrative growth up until that point, but also its creative evolution. Series creator Sterlin Harjo was unafraid of bending genre and tone throughout all three seasons of Reservation Dogs, and while “Dig” is no exception, it also adopts a beautiful kind of patience that serves its grief-stricken tone quite well.
“We have other episodes that are more dramatic, or thriller, or stoner comedy, and many other tonal adventures, but this episode needed to just breathe and feel well-rooted in time,” say Tuck and Viswanath. “Our showrunner Sterlin wanted the characters to feel all their feelings at the funeral and let their defenses come down so they can be real with each other.”
By committing to the intense emotions of that series finale, Tuck and Viswanath manage to arrive at a uniquely mature conclusion for Reservation Dogs. And as the Muscogee Nation community rallies together to close out Reservation Dogs, the show’s creative team did much of the same.
“We grew a lot by virtue of our showrunner Sterlin trusting and empowering us to make decisions and meaningful contributions to the show,” say Tuck and Viswanath. “It felt like a cumulative community effort from pre-production all the way to air. We also took away a deep focus on the communities around us, and our families.”
Check out our full conversation with the Emmy-nominated editing duo below. We discuss the various creative decisions that went into cutting together “Dig,” as well as the broader impact Reservation Dogs has had in the culture.
Congratulations on your Emmy Nomination! How did you approach the editing process for ‘Dig’ to ensure it provided a satisfying conclusion for the series?
Thank you! After reading the script, we really wanted to feel present in the edit. Sterlin Harjo and Mark Schwartzbard implemented techniques that Robert Altman would use – long takes that zoom in/out of meandering/realistic conversations, people talking over one another, etc. We worked to complement those techniques by making sure the edit didn’t feel overly controlling. Scenes play out naturally and give the sense that our characters are very present in this moment. Style/tone are not swaying us in one direction or another; it’s the story that is doing most of the work. In doing this, we think we created a more “mature” tone that mirrors the journey of our main characters.
Were there any particular challenges or creative decisions you faced while editing ‘Dig,’ especially in balancing the show’s signature humor with its more emotional and reflective moments?
Editing Reservation Dogs can be challenging in general because it’s a show that allows itself to embrace a lot of different styles and tones in order to achieve variety in its storytelling. This forces us, as editors, to flex different muscles and expand our skill sets in order to achieve styles or genres in a way that doesn’t disturb the groundwork of what the show has done previously. While it can be challenging, it is one of the most rewarding aspects of working on a show like this – it allows us to learn from our showrunner, the producers, the writers, and everyone involved to create something that feels new.
Can you discuss how you used pacing in “Dig” to enhance the thematic elements and character development throughout the episode?
The whole episode is about the joy of people coming together in grief, and we wanted to make it feel as real-time as possible so that every character feels present and vulnerable. We have other episodes that are more dramatic, or thriller, or stoner comedy, and many other tonal adventures, but this episode needed to just breathe and feel well-rooted in time. Our showrunner, Sterlin, wanted the characters to feel all their feelings at the funeral and let their defenses come down so they can be real with each other. We supported that as much as possible in the editing, and the music choices, and allowed every important beat to soak in longer. The pace of cutting also slows way down towards the end and gets almost meditative to let most of the final scene play out as a single shot till the end.
Were there any scenes or storylines that you felt were difficult to wrap up, and how did you decide what to include or leave out?
The only scenes that were difficult to wrap up were because they were extremely emotionally charged. Elora saying goodbye to Bear, Bear saying goodbye to William Knifeman, and Willie Jack saying goodbye to Fixico (and, ultimately, the Rez Dogs as we know them) are such special scenes that we took great care in helping form their shape. The finale had to have all the feelings at all the right times, so the only “challenge” was making sure that our favorite show stuck the landing.
How did you work with Sterlin to ensure that the final episode aligned with his vision for the series’ conclusion? Were there any significant changes from the original script or plan?
As far as changes from the script, there really weren’t that many. Sterlin and the writers had a very specific vision for the finale that we think they executed it perfectly. There was one speech by the elder Wotko that got cut way down, because it felt too mournful in the middle of the story. Some scenes in the chapel were also melded into a montage to cover more ground quickly. Otherwise, the final episode is pretty close to the script.
Looking back on the entire series and your work on it, how do you feel about the impact Reservation Dogs has had? What will you take away from working on a show that was so groundbreaking and meaningful?
The show’s foremost goal is to be a real and joyful mirror to the Native American audience, we hope they will see themselves in it, embrace it, celebrate it, and be proud of it. It’s been very heartwarming to be accepted by them, and then to see the wider audience gravitate to the show is a huge bonus and validation to the Native American storytelling traditions that Reservation Dogs embodies. For us personally, we grew a lot by virtue of our showrunner Sterlin trusting and empowering us to make decisions and meaningful contributions to the show, it felt like a cumulative community effort from pre-production all the way to air. We also took away a deep focus on the communities around us, and our families. It was inspiring to hear Sterlin often say, “Let’s call it an early day, I want to hang out with my kids.” In 3 seasons, we’ve built out a wonderful world for audiences to visit over and over – it’s very emotional to see many fans of the show on the internet saying they rewatch the show many times. It sets a very high bar for every job that we go on to in the future.
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